CLEARFIELD – After being prompted by parents and students at the end of the 2015 academic year, the Clearfield school board implemented a set of new guidelines for determining Student Academic Recognition at the Clearfield Area Junior-Senior High School during Monday night’s meeting.
When board President Mary Anne Jackson called for a motion to approve the presented Student Academic Recognition guidelines, board member Gail Ralston asked that they be tabled for further consideration.
Board member Phil Carr said although he thought the presented guidelines were well done, he’d agree to second Ralston’s motion. He noted Ralston wanted more time for purposes of a review.
Ralston’s motion, however, failed by a 6-3 vote. Jackson and board members Larry Putt, Jennifer Wallace, Tim Morgan, Dr. Michael Spencer and Susan Mikesell all opposed tabling the presented Student Academic Recognition guidelines.
Ralston, Carr and board member Randy Pataky voted in favor of tabling the presented guidelines for further consideration. Jackson then received a motion and a second for their approval, which passed, 8-1; Ralston was the lone opposing vote.
Weighted Classes
According to the presented Student Academic Recognition guidelines, weighted classes will be limited to the core classes of English, social studies, math and science. Within these only the most challenging core courses will be counted as weighted courses.
For example, weighted courses will include calculus and Stats AP under math; public speaking and English composition and English IV AP under English; U.S./PA History AP and U.S. Government/Economics under social studies; and physics, advanced chemistry and anatomy under science.
The weighted factor will be 10 percent, or 1.1, for these courses. Further, only junior and senior students will have the weight of weighted courses. If a younger student takes a weighted course, it will not be weighted for them.
For example, the unweighted GPA will be calculated by taking every grade and multiplying it by the credit amount for each course. The sum of the grades multiplied by credits will then divided by the sum of total credits.
The weighted GPA will be calculated by including a weighted factor in the multiplication of the grade and credit. If a course is weighted, the calculation for that course will be the credit multiplied by the grade, which is multiplied by the weight. This will be summed with the other courses and divided by the sum of the total credits to determine the weighted GPA.
Class Ranking
Class ranking will be calculated using the student’s cumulative weighted GPA. Class ranking will only be used to determine the valedictorian, salutatorian and senior-year academic honors.
According to the presented Student Academic Recognition guidelines, the ranking will be calculated based on the grades to date on May 1, or the most immediate school day after May 1, if May 1 is a weekend day. Class ranking will only be available for student needs for college applications or scholarships.
Seniors, beginning with the class of 2016, will graduate using the class ranking system in place at the start of the year. Starting with the class of 2017, the students’ calculations for class ranking will be determined as previously stated above.
According to the presented Student Academic Recognition guidelines, in case of a tie to the one ten thousandths decimal place for valedictorian and salutatorian, a committee of five teachers, one from each core area and one from the related arts, along with the principal as a non-voting member, will resolve the tie. Committee members will review the criteria of unweighted GPA, credits completed and SAT/ACT scores.
Recognition
At the time of commencement, based on the cumulative weighted GPA on May 1, graduating seniors will be recognized as valedictorian, salutatorian, summa cum laude (98 percent and above); magna cum laude (95 – 97.99 percent); and cum laude (90 – 94.99 percent).
According to the presented Student Recognition guidelines, students who are summa cum laude will be invited to participate in the annual Principal’s Dinner.
Also, students who are in grades 9, 10 and 11 will receive a letter of completion. This will include their standing as summa cum laude, magna cum laude and cum laude.
Students who earn an unweighted current GPA of 90 percent and above will be recognized as high honors. Students who earn an unweighted current GPA of 85 – 89.99 percent will be recognized as honors.
Students who have an unweighted class average of at least an 80 percent for three of the four quarters, with no grade below a 70 percent, will be recognized as earning an academic letter.
Junior and senior students who have a cumulative weighted GPA of 90 percent and above are eligible for membership to the National Honor Society if they fulfill all other criteria established by the NHS, according to the presented Student Academic Recognition guidelines.
Independent study courses, which are for the purposes of self-enrichment, will not be counted towards any GPA calculation or for the purposes of graduation.
After the board meeting, Superintendent Terry Struble said he was pleased with the administration and teachers in their effort to develop the presented Student Academic Recognition guidelines. He said the district will make tweaks to the new guidelines when appropriate.